

"It's been catching more dust than fish," said MacKenzie. "I want to change that trajectory."
Director of Grounds at Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago for the past 19 years, MacKenzie, 64, will retire in 2026. It is a decision MacKenzie has been pondering for some time.
"At the end of 2023, we were having my review with the executive committee, and the club president asked 'What are your plans, what do you want to do?'He didn't want me to quit or anything like that. He wanted to know what I'm thinking," MacKenzie said. "I said 'My contract ends in December 2025, and I'll turn 65 that month. And at that time I'll have been here just about 20 years. There's a lot of symmetry in that."
A 1983 Michigan State graduate, MacKenzie's first job in golf was in 1979 at McComb Country Club in Illinois, and his first head superintendent position was at Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Indiana. After seven years in Muncie, he moved on to Broadmoor Country Club in Indianapolis, where he spent 10 years before taking his current position at Olympia Fields in 2006.
The club has extended his contract for an additional year, through December 2026, while MacKenzie helps South Course superintendent Francisco Velasquez prepare to take over as director of grounds.
Another Michigan State graduate, Velasquez has been at Olympia Fields for most of the past decade.
"He started here as an intern and has worked his way up," MacKenzie said. "He's going to be dynamite."
Transplanting a large oak tree from out of play to the middle of a fairway was one of the more challenging projects during Sam MacKenzie's career at Olympia Fields Country Club. The 2008 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year award winner, MacKenzie points to a list of accomplishments that includes major tournaments for all of the game's major associations - including two BMW Championship events - and hopes his career speaks for itself.
"Tournaments are tough," he said. "We've done tournaments with the USGA, the LPGA, the PGA of America and the PGA Tour, and they've all gone off without a hiccup."
One of the more interesting and challenging projects of his career came last year when a large oak tree was transplanted from an out-of-play location to the 11th fairway of the South Course to replace one of similar size that had come down during a storm. It took a tree-moving firm from Texas four days to complete the project.
While much has changed throughout the duration of his career in the way golf courses are managed, MacKenzie said two things stand out to him.
"Number 1 is how we water the golf course and number 2 is how we fertilize it," he said. "In improper doses and in the wrong combination, they can be detrimental to turf health. The turf can thrive with much less than we once thought."
After his retirement is official, MacKenzie and wife Sally plan to relocate to Lake Wales, Florida, where there is no shortage of lakes to launch his boat.
"I've been blessed," he said. "A guy my age doesn't always get to go out the way he wants to."
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